1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gel electrophoresis device.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Electrophoresis is a method to analyze complex mixtures of substances, for instance biological substances like proteins. By electrophoresis, a mixture of different substances may be separated by taking into account the intrinsic charge characteristics of the substances, particularly different isoelectric points of different substances. For an electrophoresis analysis, an analyte may be inserted in a gel strip, and then an electric field is applied along the gel strip so that the electrically charged molecules are separated based on their different electric charges. Along an extension of a gel strip for electrophoresis, a gradient of the local pH value may be generated so that a component having a particular isolelectric point moves along the gel strip and is stopped at a characteristic position and thus pH value of the gel strip, in accordance with the isoelectric point of this component.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,989,400, 6,113,766 and 6,599,410 B1 disclose devices for gel electrophoresis.
In conventional gel electrophoresis as described above, substances of an analyte are separated into different fractions which are spatially separated along the extension of the gel strip.
WO 01/86279 A1 and WO 03/019172 A2 disclose an alternative electrophoresis method, wherein a plurality of compartments containing a solution are arranged above a gel strip. After having separated the different fractions of the analyte by applying an electric field, a fraction of substances stopped at a particular position along the gel strip is accumulated in a solution contained in an adjacent one of the plurality of compartments. In comparison to the above-mentioned conventional electrophoresis which may also be denoted as “in-gel electrophoresis” in this specification, the approach of WO 01/86279 A1 and WO 03/019172 A2 may also be denoted as “off-gel electrophoresis” in this specification, since the separated components may be provided off the gel.